How often do you read at bedtime?

How often do you read at bedtime?

It's a lovely picture, little one on your knee, hanging on your every word as you read them a bedtime story. Is this most people's reality? Probably not!

Tugging at the book. ripping pages, raised voices as you try to keep them still to listen to the story, not quite the idealic picture you had in your mind.

This could be part of the reason the traditional bedtime story is dying out, a new study has revealed. A third of parents never read their young children a story at night. And only 64 per cent of those with children under seven read to them at all.

And of those, a mere one in five get a book out every night.

We know as parents it is good for children as young as babies to have a bedtime story as it helps them start to understand grammar and appreciate the world around them.

The research by online family retailer Littlewoods.com shows that nearly half of kids would much rather watch TV, play with toys or computer games than listen to mum or dad read them a story from a book.

Meanwhile, 13 per cent of parents blame a lack of time for not reading to them and 9 per cent claim they are 'too stressed'.

Let's be honest, we all know where these mums are coming from. Most of us have turned to a computer game or offered the kids a bit of TV time as a way to calm them down or allow us to get one of our million jobs done. And why not? Reality is that sometimes we need the little munchkins engaged in something so things gets done.

But the bedtime story is tradition that should be kept, it is that one on one precious time just before bed. For many doing this seven nights a week may be unrealistic, but taking those few minutes to engage with your little one before they go to sleep when you can is a great bonding moment for both mum and little one.